RAGING RAPIDS OF MANHATTAN: Surging water tears up the asphalt on Central Park West at 106th Street after yesterday’s main break. Photo: Dan Brinzac

Surf’s up on Central Park West!

A century-old water main burst at Central Park West and 106th Street yesterday morning, flooding an intersection with three feet of raging rapids and wreaking havoc on the subways.

Late last night, the MTA said it would work through the night to restore local service. All trains were running in time for today’s morning commute.

Service was disastrous throughout the day:

* The B and C trains were shut down in both directions.

* A trains were suspended between West 145th Street and Columbus Circle.

* D trains were not running between 161st Street in The Bronx and either Pacific Street in Brooklyn or West Fourth Street in Manhattan.

Most of the water streamed into the Cathedral Parkway station.

Emergency workers were able to shut the main by 12:15 p.m., but the damage was already done.

The block of Central Park West between 105th and 106th streets may be closed to traffic for a week, officials said.

This is the third major water-main break in the last three months. A similar pipe broke in Harlem in August, and portions of The Bronx were flooded in July.

Angry riders yesterday complained that many stations along the West Side had not posted signs to inform them that the stations were closed. Scores of others were forced to find alternate routes.

“It’s messing me up terribly,” said Edna Hall, 63, a housekeeper who was suddenly facing a two-hour bus ride instead of her train commute. “It’s going to take me much longer. I’m going to end up going all around town.”

Commuters were seen heading into stations at 86th and 96th, only to emerge moments later.

“They should have at least posted signs to let people know,” one snarled as he ran for a bus near 96th Street.

Things hadn’t improved by the evening rush hour.

The Columbus Circle station needed cops to help regulate the chaotic crowds.

Sandra Mallak, 24, had to call her sister to come pick her up to drive her to her Inwood home.

“I would rather deal with street traffic,” she said. “It’s a lose-lose situation for me.”

The water main shattered at around 11 a.m., blowing a 10-foot-wide hole in the street and sending a spout of water in the air.

There were no injuries, and the area still had water, gas and power.

Carter Strickland, commissioner of the city Department of Environmental Protection, said workers would be excavating to find the cause of the break.

“There’s no one thing we can point to,” he said.

Cast-iron water mains “fail catastrophically — they just explode.”

The DEP advises residents that their water is safe as long as they let taps run until water turns clear.